NOTES for Eph 1:16-17
What does the apostle Paul pray for? In fact, that we would come to know God and grow in the knowledge of Him. But for this knowledge we first need to change spiritually, to receive "a spirit of wisdom and revelation," that is, to agree that the knowledge of God is not within our power, but can be the result of His self-disclosure to us. Thus this is a prayer for our openness and humility.
It is interesting in this connection that Paul calls God the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, recognizing that our God is not Someone known by our efforts, but the One whom Christ has made known (John 1:18).